Blessed in All Things – Part 2

Genesis 24:1-9 NKJV  Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.  (2)  So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh,  (3)  and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell;  (4)  but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”  (5)  And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”  (6)  But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there.  (7)  The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.  (8)  And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.”  (9)  So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. 

This is the Word of the Lord, Amen? 
You may be seated 

• Someone say “Blessed” come on! Someone say “in!”, someone say “all”, Someone say “things” 

• BLESSED IN ALL THINGS! Come on church! BLESSED IN ALL THINGS. 

Genesis 24:1 NKJV  Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. 

• Now I am a Biblical literalist… I believe the Bible means what it says! 

• God had blessed Abraham in ALL things. 

• Not in some things, not in most things… but in ALL THINGS. 

• We talked about it last week, we will talk about it next week, and we are going to talk about it today. Blessed in all things! 

• For those of you who are new this morning, my name is Pastor Christian Shields, I am the Senior Pastor here at Christian Life Church… and this is what we do here, we preach the Bible. 

• So when the Bible says blessed in ALL things, we preach “Blessed in All things”. 

• This morning is part two in our three part series about being blessed in all things… and what the Lord has revealed to me, as I studies this section of Genesis, is that Abraham, when seeking blessings, followed six rules, or six principles, or six keys when seeking a blessing. 

• We went over the first two last week, we will go over the middle two this week, and we will finish with the final two next week. 

• Here they are, if you missed them from last week: 

• Blessed in All Things: Six Keys To Walking in Blessing 

• Don’t Rush the Blessing 

• Don’t Look to the World 

• Avoid Temptation 

• Keep Good Company 

• Don’t Force the Blessing 

• Trust That God is Able 

So last week we talked about those first two keys… 

• When seeking a blessing, Don’t rush the blessing. 

• The Bible says that God makes everything beautiful in it’s time, it says that those who wait on the Lord will run and not be weary, it says that Patience has a perfect work, making the Christian perfect and complete lacking nothing! 

• So many times we want a blessing, we seek a blessing… then the first shining thing comes along and we are like “Is ThAT mY BLesSInG‽” 

• Wait on the Lord, in His timing he will provide. 

• The Second Key we talked about was “Don’t Look to the World”. 

• I spent time emphasizing that Abraham was extremely serious when he told his servant “Do not take a wife for my son from the world…”. 

• God’s People Mary God’s People. PERIOD! The bible makes it clear, it is a command and not a suggestion: Do not be unequally yoked! 

• But of course these keys to walking in blessing are not just about marriage… the truth is we live in the world… and most of our interactions outside of church are with businesses and institutions that are not Christian. We need to remember, that when we are looking for blessings we don’t look to the world for those blessings. 

• God is our provider, not our Job. God provides through our Job sometimes, but God is our provider. 

• God is our healer, not the American Healthcare system. God heals us through the American Healthcare system many times, but God is our healer. 

• So those are the first two keyes… Don’t rush the blessing and don’t look to the world for blessing… 

• The next two keys we will talk about this morning, but before we do that I want to remind us of the ground rules. 

• First: I assume that I am speaking to a room full of Christians, born again and on fire for God. If you are not born again, we can fix that at the end of service… but blessings are for God’s people, Amen? 

• Second: I assume that you are doing your best to live righteously… as we just read in Deuteronomy, blessings are for those who diligently and carefully obey what God has commanded. We have preached sermons on this many times before… that’s not this series, but it is important. 

• Third: These are not “mix and match” keys to blessings… you can’t pick a few to follow and ignore others… missing just one key is enough to throw you into a tail-spin. 

• And as a P.S. This morning: It is ok to seek and desire blessings. Abraham was blessed in all things, but he still wanted and sought after one final blessing, a wife for his son. 

Matthew 7:7-8 NKJV  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  (8)  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 

• Alright, with that, let’s get into our third key to walking in blessings… our third principal to follow when seeking blessings: Key Three – Avoid Temptation 

Key Three – Avoid Temptation 

Genesis 24:5-6 NKJV  And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”  (6)  But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. 

• Beware that you do not take my son back there… 

• Abraham wanted a wife for his son Isaac, and he is sending his servant back to his people to chose a wife for him. 

• And in the midst of this, Abraham makes this very serious warning “Beware!” That’s not a gentle word… that’s about the sternest warning you can give… “Beware that you do not send my son there”. 

• Abraham knew that there was temptation in the land God had called him out of. 

• Abraham knew that his son had a calling to inherit this promised land, a land that was away from the land of his forefathers. 

• Abraham knew that the Devil would do anything he could to tempt Isaac from never returning to the promised land, never inheriting all the blessings that God had for him. 

• If Isaac went to the land of Abraham’s family, Isaac might be tempted to stay. 

• His wife’s parents might try to coerce him in staying and working for him… like Jacob’s father-in-law will soon do. 

• His wife might beg him “Stay here in this land, isn’t this land good, aren’t these people wonderful, what is there for you in that land God promised you… can’t this be the land of your inheritance? 

• It sounds a bit silly, but Abraham could not be too careful. THIS WAS THE PROMISED LAND… and he was going to be well and sure that his son inherits it and populates it. 

• And so, while Abraham is seeking a blessing for his son Isaac… He also is very careful to avoid any and all temptation that might turn a blessing into a curse. 

• Parent’s, would you take note of how much Abraham cares for the well being of his grown son? 

• I think a lot of Christian Parents go out of their way to keep their children pure, to keep them in the faith, to protect them from the things of the world. 

• Many parents in our church send their kids to Christian Schools, and some, to great sacrifice to themselves, homeschool their children… because they want to make sure their kids get a Christian education and stay unstained from the world. 

• And PRAISE GOD FOR THAT! Your kids will be blessed in all things! Thank you Jesus… 

• But here is what I don’t understand… When you go OUT OF YOUR WAY to protect your child from the world, to school them with Christian education… 

• When you see the wickedness that can be so present in the Public School systems… so you sacrifice to give your children a better, holier, education… 

• Then they graduate and you think “One more blessing for my son I seek… One more blessing for my daughter I seek… A college degree”… 

• And then for SOME REASON many parents send their kids to Secular, Worldly, Wicked universities… and they say “Look how blessed little Jimmy is! He got a full ride scholarship to Babylon State University! 

• You spent so many years protecting them from the world and now you are going to send them to some worldly university, to be taught by worldly professors, to be surrounded by worldly influences? 

• And worse, for many the student will live at this university, the first time they are out of the covering of mom and dad’s household… and this is how you send them out? 

• Let me read some statistics to you: 

• According to research done by Lifeway Research, Barna Group, and Fuller Youth Institute… Three separate groups, three separate studies… between 50% and 70% of Christian teenagers walk away from church and from God when they are in college. 

• MORE THAN HALF! WAY MORE THAN HALF! After being raised in a Christian home… they say “No thanks” to Jesus when in a secular college… 

• WHY? Because of temptation. 

• Temptation from faculty, temptation from fellow students, peer pressure… pleasure seeking… false worldviews… lies from professors… 

• Temptation to sin, temptation to doubt, temptation to fornicate, temptation to fall into drunkenness and debauchery… 

• WHY, Parents, when seeking a blessing for your children, would you send them to live in Sodom and Gomorrah? Why would you send them to live in a den of temptation?  

• Here is some advice from your pastor… please listen parents… when seeking blessings for your children, above all material and intellectual blessings, first consider the welfare of their souls… will this thing I am proposing further the welfare of my child’s soul, or will it hinder it? Because I would rather have an illiterate saint as a son, than an educated heathen. 

• I would rather my son get admitted to heaven, than get admitted to Harvard. 

2 Peter 2:20 NKJV  For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 

• Now of course this goes for other areas of life too… when seeking a wife, you are seeking a good blessing. 

• If you find a woman who is constantly trying to sleep with you before you are married, RUN! 

• Avoid temptation. 

• Don’t look for a job in industries you know will tempt you to sin… 

• Avoid temptation. 

• If your doctor doesn’t respect your faith and is constantly trying to pressure you into things that you are know are sin… get a new doctor. 

• Avoid temptation. 

• Whatever blessing you are seeking… wherever you are seeking it… ask yourself “Will this blessing lead me to holiness… or will it lead me to temptation?” 

• Because if the answer is temptation, then that blessing is not from God, it is a counterfeit. 

James 1:13 NKJV  Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 

• But let me tell you how glorious this is, when you walk this way… Bar owner example in North Carolina. 

• Ok, so that is key three… avoid temptation. So let’s move into key four “Keep Good Company”. 

Key Four – Keep Good Company 

Genesis 24:2-3 NKJV  So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh,  (3)  and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 

• Abraham was seeking a blessing… a wife for his son… a daughter in law… a mother to his grandchildren… 

• Abraham was seeking a blessing, and he needed some help. So he turned to his oldest servant and set him on this task. 

• Note the INCREDIBLY huge importance this task was… to find a wife for his son. 

• Abraham needed someone he could trust… 

• Someone he could trust to follow his orders, and his very specific directions… 

• And someone he could trust to have the faith to allow God to work a miracle… Afterall Abraham said “God is sending an angel before you, God will prepare this woman to go with you”. 

• This was a physical and practical task, it was a spiritual and faithfilled task… and it was an incredibly important task. 

• That Abraham would trust his servant to do this… speaks VOLUMES. 

• I mean, this is the son that Abraham waited 100 years for! A miracle of miracles… surely not just any ol’ woman would do. 

• This woman would become the mother of God’s chosen people, Israel… she would be a matriarch who’s offspring would include King David, King Solomon, King Hezekiah… and eventually King Jesus! 

• Man I don’t know about you, but I am a CONTROL FREAK… it would freak me out to ask someone else to find a wife for my son… 

• Now as a control freak, the thought of arranged marriages peaks my interest… but it would be MY decision who my son marries… not some other person… 

• And I think Abraham might have felt the same way… but Abraham is 140 years old now… in the next chapter he dies… he probably is just too old for the journey… so he needs someone he can trust… someone with great faith… and praise God, he has his eldest Servant Eliezer of Damascus… whom he can trust. 

• Abraham kept good company. 

• When searching for a blessing, y’all, it is so important that you KEEP GOOD COMPANY. 

• How many times have I seen a good thing wrecked in someone’s life by a bad friend. 

• How many people have I known who were on track for being blessed in ALL THINGS… have it all ripped away because they had a friend who was living for the world. 

• You know I read that unequally yoked verse last week in regards to marriage, but it actually, in it’s original context, is not about marriage… it is about friendship… it is about the company that you keep. It certainly applies to marriage, but that is not it’s original context. It is all about friendship… 

2 Corinthians 6:14-17 NKJV  Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?  (15)  And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?  (16)  And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM. I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.”  (17)  Therefore “COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE SEPARATE, SAYS THE LORD. DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN, AND I WILL RECEIVE YOU.” 

• You are righteous! Why would you hang out with someone who is lawless? 

• You are the light… why are you spending so much time with darkness? 

• You follow Christ… why do you spend time with your buddies who follow Satan? 

• “But Pastor I am going to lead them to Christ!” 

• You sound just like the people fornicating with unbelievers saying “God told me we are going to get married and I am going to lead him to Jesus!” 

• GOD DIDN’T SAY THAT! You are listening to something else, but God doesn’t contradict His word. 

• “But this is different pastor, didn’t Jesus hang out with sinners”. 

• NO! Jesus did not ‘Hang out’ with sinners. He invited them to dinner and preached to them. He called them out of their sins. He showed them the power of God and called them to it. 

• He preached to the drunks, but he didn’t go to the bar with them. 

• He preached to the prostitutes, but he didn’t meet them at the strip club. 

• You want to spend time with people who are not Christians… INVITE THEM TO CHURCH… and watch what God can do. 

• That’s what Eli did with Paitan… and now she is SAVED! Thank you Jesus. 

• Church, let your acquaintances be of this world as you call them to Jesus… but your FRIENDS… your CONFIDANTS… your COLLABORATORS… Those your celebrate with and those you mourn with… They should be Christians. 

• Yet again… I warn you church… when seeking blessings, KEEP GOOD COMPANY… because I have seen many times people seeking blessings… and than a worldly “friend” gets involved and it all blows up. 

• Has God inspired you to start a business? DON’T START IT WITH A WORLDLY BUSINESS PARTNER. 

• Is God calling you to be free from an addiction… don’t join a worldly recovery group. 

• Looking for advice on how to raise your children? Don’t ask IDOL worshipers, Baal followers, and foolish atheists for advice… 

• I know it sounds harsh but if what the Bible says is true than it MUST BE of the utmost importance in every area of life. 

• I don’t want a business partner who doesn’t have the same morality as me. 

• I don’t want a college professor who doesn’t have the same worldview as me. 

• I don’t want a counselor who doesn’t have the same faith as me. 

• All that I am is defined by Christ in me… why would I then yoke myself with someone who is so wildly different? 

Proverbs 18:24 NKJV  A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. 

• Now this is an interesting point for this verse… why do I share it? Because the Hebrew phrase אִישׁ רֵעִים לְהִתְרֹעֵעַ (ish re’im lehitro’a) can mean one of two things, it can mean “to show oneself friendly” as it is translated in the KKJV… but it can also mean “to be ruined or broken apart”… look at this same verse, but in the ESV this time… 

Proverbs 18:24 ESV  A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. 

• Saints I don’t know about you, but when I am trying to live a life of blessing… being blessed in all ways… I want friends by my side who are closer than brothers… I don’t want many friends who lead to my own ruin… amen? 

• Now on the flip side… let me tell you what a good friend can do: Pastor Matt and Facebook Example. (Wordily friends rarely rebuke and correct, it is a fake friendship) 

• Alright church, let’s close this thing down. 

Conclusion 

Genesis 24:1 NKJV  Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. 

• I believe that we as Christians can live blessed lives… I really do… I believe that like Abraham we can be blessed in All things. 

• In our health, in our finances, in our relationships, in our family, in our spirits… I believe we can be blessed in all things. 

• Yes we must be born again… if we want to be blessed in all things. 

• And yes, as Deuteronomy teaches, we must diligently obey the commands of the Lord, and carefully follow His instructions. 

• But there are some lifestyle choices that we can follow that will help us walk in blessings… there are these principles, above living righteously and seeking after the Lord… that we need to take heed of to avoid pitfalls and find temptations… 

• I call them the six keys to walking in blessing.  

• Blessed in All Things: Six Keys To Walking in Blessing 

• Don’t Rush the Blessing 

• Don’t Look to the World 

• Avoid Temptation 

• Keep Good Company 

• Don’t Force the Blessing 

• Trust That God is Able 

• Christians who follow these keys, I have seen time and time again live blessed lives… 

• Christians who ignore some or all of these keys… I have seen time and time again crash and burn… 

• Last week we talked about not rushing the blessing and not looking to the world. 

• This week we talked about avoiding temptation and keeping good company… 

• By the way, the kind of company I like to keep are with people who love Jesus more than they love me… because I know I can trust them in all areas, even if I need rebuke, I can trust them! 

• Next week we will talk about not forcing the blessing and trusting that God is able… 

• Man I LOVE SERVING IN A BLESSED CHURCH! AMEN‽ 

• Now if you are not a born again Christian, I have good news for you, there are blessings waiting to overtake you TODAY, if you would just give your life to Christ. 

Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God.

Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids
2808 Schaeffer DR SW,
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
www.CedarRapidsChurch.com